Everton striker Wayne Rooney "could be set for worldwide stardom of a different kind with his potential immortalisation in the Angry Birds online game franchise," according to Carl Markham of the PA. The club expects its new shirt-sleeve deal with Rovio, the game's developer, will produce financial and exposure benefits that boost its profile "to unprecedented levels." Rooney could "appear in a Toffees spin-off version of the massively-popular online game." The club hopes to boost its appeal in a different demographic in key growth markets, "particularly the likes of China and the Far East," as Angry Birds has a global brand awareness third "only to Disney and Lego," while Rovio is looking to capitalize on the "immense global appeal of the Premier League." Rovio Entertainment CMO Ville Heijari said, "We have a history of doing Angry Bird homages of real-life characters so obviously now we are in collaboration (with Everton) we can work together to bring interesting characters and profiles into the games. Potentially Wayne Rooney would be involved." Five versions of the Angry Birds game -- which has had 3.7 billion downloads since '09, 3 billion YouTube views and has 25 million Facebook followers -- are "in the top 100-grossing games on the Apple platform" in the U.S. Everton Head of Commercial Alan McTavish said, "For us this is a real plus in that we have been able to secure a brand of the level of Rovio with the level of brand awareness they have and the undoubted market-leading following they have" (PA, 9/26).
